Events, pictures, and thoughts from Elder and Sister Lenhard while serving for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Wisconsin, Milwaukee mission...

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

049 Tuesday to Tuesday (Mar. 25-31, 2015)

049 Tuesday to Tuesday
(Mar. 25-31, 2015)

Last week in March. We will return home in less
than a year now. Sounds like a short time, and as each week quickly passes, it
is a short time.

The relatives I want to introduce are on my
Grandma Walton’s side. She was a Perry before marrying a Walton. Her
ggrandfather was Solomon Perry. Family tradition has it that his grandfather,
Solomon, and brother, John, came from England landing in New York. They later
settled in western North Carolina where they were some of the first white
settlers.

I have not found any evidence of Solomon Sr.
and John, but I do know about Solomon the grandson. He was born in 1805 and
married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Ham. Very little is known about
this family. They had seven children that I’m working on now.

The second wife was Tobitha Ham. She was born
in 1848. They were married in Ashe Co. on December 23, 1863. Their marriage
record gives her nickname of Bithy. When they were married, she was 15 and he
was 58. I’d call that robbing the cradle. It was reported that they were happy, and she
adored him. They would take into their home older people who had no one to take
care of them. They lived in the Horse Creek area of Ashe. It was a common sight
to see them walking to church, he walking with a cane in one hand and leading a
small child with the other. Tobitha often had a small baby in her arms. Solomon
was a successful farmer and gristmill owner.

Seated are Tabitha Ham Perry and her daughter Millie. Standing is Etta Sheets, daughter of Millie.

Solomon died in 1891 and is buried in the Ham
Cemetery. There is no marker. After he passed away, Tobitha remarried a couple
of years later but had no children. She married a third time, but they only
lived together a couple of months. She did not carry this man’s last name and
went back to the name of her second husband.

Solomon and Tobitha’s son, James Gentry Perry,
was my ggrandfather. I would like to say I vaguely remember meeting him.
However, I guess it’s the power of suggestion that I feel this way. He died the
year before I was born. I believe that he was living with Grandma and Grandpa
Walton when he died.

The 25th of March (Wednesday) was
transfer day. That morning we had Denise’s team meeting. She was not happy with
them before we got there, and the meeting was worse than we thought it would
be. She was determined to tell them what for, meaning she did not like how she
perceived she was being treated. She has until July to move out of her place,
but she told them she was moving earlier. WOW! We shall see what happens.

That afternoon we went to the Chapel where the
transfers were taking place. Again, Craig and I had to organize the cleaning
party. This time, we had it ready to go. They got onto it, and it was great.
That evening we went to the Mission Home to give a send off to the 24 Elders
and Sisters that were leaving the mission field. They are a fine group of your
men and women. They we went back to the Chapel for Testimony meeting and
finally got home around 10:30. What a marvelous way to spend the day!

On Thursday, we spent the time with Victor. We
took him to see two of the homes he had lived in when a young man in Milwaukee.
He got really emotional seeing them and remembering his mom and grandma living
there. Then we went to the Catholic Basilica downtown. It is a beautiful
building. Victor’s grandma went to Church there. He was emotional there also.
We took pictures so he could put them in his family history. We had a wonderful
time with him.

That evening we had Pathway. The students are
reading a book (they had several to choose from) that helps them relate the
managing of their finances with the Gospel. On top of everything else that they
do, this is keeping them busy. They will report on the book on the last evening
of class.

On Friday, we met with Brother and Sister
Rutowski regarding Pathway. We were meeting to get to know each other better
and to bounce around ideas on how to promote the program for next year. We had
Thai food, and it was good as usual. He used to be a member of the Nauvoo
Temple Presidency. He indicated that since we wouldn’t be here all next year,
we might need to be replaced. I hate that idea. Their younger cohort is now
down to 2 students, one of which doesn’t come regularly. You can’t learn
together if you have no one to discuss ideas with and to get opinions from.

Denise found an apartment. We get a call that
she has found one. We can’t believe it and want to hold her back. If she moves,
she will lose all the support of her counselors, social workers, etc. that she
has had for 4 years. I don’t think she realizes how much support they give her.
She will know on Sunday or Monday if she gets it.

That night Craig and I asked the Armstrongs
(Dave and Virginia) to go to a hamburger place to eat. We had coupons that cut
the cost in half, and we like that. We enjoy being with them. She is not a
member, and she confessed while there that she does not want to give up her
coffee. If she had a testimony, it would be no big thing. I think she is afraid
of getting a testimony for that reason. Yet, she comes to Church regularly with
him, and they are living all the other commandments. We will continue to be
friends because they are good people.

On Saturday there was a pancake breakfast at
our Parkway Ward. We had told Denise we would pick her up, but she said her
sister would bring her. She had her three oldest kids with her also. The next
morning, Denise called to say that her sister wouldn’t do it. So we had to go
and make two trips to get her family to the Church. Because of it, we were the
last group there about 15 minutes before it was over. We still had a good time.
The boys found some friends to play with, and Denise got to meet new people.

That evening was General Women’s Conference. I
had to take a dessert so I called upon Sam’s little brownies to do the trick.
So clever! What a marvelous conference, if it is a prelude to what is coming,
this will be a spiritual conference next weekend.

Sunday is always a good day. It is wonderful to
be able to go to Church and renew our covenants with the Lord. When we keep our
covenants, we are blessed and our lives are so full. Afterwards, we took the
Elders home. It was a great day!

Denise did get the apartment. She has to be
moved by Wednesday. We will have to help her but we have some things to do also
this week.

On Monday, we have an appointment with an Elder
Lifferth who left a container of his stuff here until he could come back and
get it. At 1:00, he planned to come by, so we decided to go to Denise’s house
to help her pack. I ended up packing the kitchen and cleaning most of the
cupboards. I would not clean her dishes up and she wanted to pack all her food,
so I left a couple of things for her to do. Craig packed other things. She was
getting rid of so much stuff. She got rid of all of Timmy’s books. She said she
didn’t read them to him, and she wouldn’t have room for them in the new
apartment. Evidently, it is a tiny apartment, one bedroom, kitchen and living
room together, and one bath. She is so excited she can’t stand it, but she is
also going nuts because of all she has to do.

The last day of March came and went. We will
never have an end to March in Wisconsin again. How sad is that!We finished a week inspecting missionary
apartments; then a district meeting; and finally, a couple of hours of math
practice. We stayed busy, and it was a good day. This is a good way to finish
the month.

Our Scripture for March is from Doctrine and
Covenants 68:4 -

And
whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall

be scripture, shall be the
will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord,

shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the
power

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About Us

Elder Craig and Sister Linda Lenhard are most recently from Layton, Utah, and are currently serving for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as member support missionaries in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Craig was born in Flagstaff, Arizona and grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and Linda comes from the back hills of Virginia. The Lenhards were converted to the church soon after their marriage and have been faithful members ever since. They lived and raised their five children in Columbus, GA for 25+ years before relocating to Utah to prepare for their mission. They have been serving since April 14, 2014, and are excited to share their testimonies and knowledge of the gospel to the people of Wisconsin!